


For the right audience

by Wasthereever



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber
Genre: Aerial AU, M/M, circus AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-24
Updated: 2020-04-24
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:22:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23813743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wasthereever/pseuds/Wasthereever
Summary: Sometimes all Misto needs to find the courage to try a new trick is the right audience
Relationships: Mr. Mistoffelees & Rum Tum Tugger, Mr. Mistoffelees/Rum Tum Tugger
Comments: 4
Kudos: 59





	For the right audience

“It’s not that scary once you actually do it.” Victoria insisted from where she was seated on the ground next to the mat.

“Easy for you to say!” Misto huffed from atop the lyra. Both hands griping the rope as he rested on his hips above the hoop. “And who cares if it isn’t scary when you do it, it’s scary _now_.”

“You do ankle drops on cloud swing all the time.” Victoria pointed out. “Those are the scariest thing ever. There’s a reason we call them dead drops.”

“When I do dead drops there isn’t a big, metal hoop underneath me, ready to bump me in the head if something goes wrong.” Misto argued.

“It’s not going to hit you unless you lose your grip on the bar, and you won’t” Victoria said with conviction. “It’s just a small flip forward and then you’ll be sitting in the hoop. No sweat.”

Misto didn’t reply. He took a deep breath and tried to steel himself for the drop. He moved one hand from the rope above his head to grip the bar next to his hip. He took another breath, prepared to move his other hand down and fall but- he couldn’t make himself do it.

“I don’t know if I trust my grip, it’s only been a few months since my surgery, I don’t want to overdo it.”

“That’s an excuse and you know it.” Victoria rolled her eyes. “You’ve been doing plenty of much more strenuous things over the past month. But I’ll leave you to practice by yourself.”

Misto sighed as the door of the studio shut behind her, leaving him alone. He twisted around and pulled himself up on the rope, letting his legs slip off of the top of the hoop and then setting them down on the bottom bar. He lowered himself down to sit with his back against one side of the hoop, a simple comfortable position he could rest in before trying the drop again. He was annoyed that he hadn’t had the guts to go ahead with the drop again today, annoyed that doing tricks on the top of the hoop still freaked him out. It had been years since he had lost his grip and fallen from the hoop to the mat below, the bottom bar of the hoop smacking into his cheek on the way down. He was stronger now, and he never lost grip. Logically he knew that, but psychologically the fear was still there.

“I’ve never seen you on that before.” A familiar voice from the door interrupted Misto’s thoughts. Misto looked up to see Tugger in the studio door. He wondered how he hadn’t heard him come in.

After coming to several of their shows and being rightfully amazed, Tugger had made a habit of dropping by the studio to watch Misto practice or just to chat. Misto enjoyed the company, even when he pretended to find Tugger annoying, and liked showing off to him.

“It’s not something I do super often.” Misto told him. “Lyra is more my sister’s thing.”

“You look pretty comfortable on it.” Tugger remarked.

“I’m proficient at it.”

“Can I see something?” Tugger asked.

“I suppose.” Misto shrugged, sitting himself up.

While he knew Tugger would watch anything he did with fascination, what Misto really enjoyed hearing was gasps of astonishment. And Misto knew that the easiest way to get those was drops. The problem was, there just weren’t as many drops on lyra than on the apparatuses he usually worked on. He did a few simple poses inside the hoop first to give himself time to think- a back balance into a straddle, a double knee hang into a chest stand supported by resting one heel on the top bar.

Finally, he decided he would go for it. He moved up onto the top of the hoop, getting himself back into the figurehead pose, grabbing the rope above his head and resting his hits on the top bar. He moved one hand down beside his hip and them the other, letting himself flip forward in a fluid, graceful motion. Instead of staying seated on the bar, he swung his legs forward, whipped back, and piked up, passing his legs through the hoop. Then he went back up into a double knee hand on the top of the hoop, and into a hip drop onto the lower bar. Finally, he did a few hip circles around the bar for extra flair.

Misto loved the way Tugger’s mouth fell open at the first drop, and how his eyes continued to widen in amazement. Unable to help himself, he gave Tugger a bow once his feet were back on the floor. Tugger burst into applause.

“How- how do you….” Tugger stammered. “I mean, aren’t you afraid you’ll fall?”

“I never fall.” Misto lied. “It’s easy.”

It was only half a lie. When Misto had the right audience, it was easy.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope all the aerial stuff is semi-understandable even to non aerial people. It's hard to explain, and also lots of people have different names for tricks like idk if dead drop is a common term of ankle drops from standing, or if that was just my studio. Hope you all enjoyed this anyway.
> 
> find me on tumblr @transmisto
> 
> Also I made a discord for trans circus people/aerialists (trans circus fans also welcome)  
> message me on tumblr or find the invite on my blog if that's you please join us!!


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